The Registrar, Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN), Dr. Tosan Erhabor has called on medical laboratories in the country to always adhere to professional standards in the discharge of their responsibilities.
Erhabor made the call on the occasion of the presentation of the ISO 15189 certificate to Lifebridge Medical Diagnostic Centre in Abuja. ISO 15189 is an award of competence and quality by the International Standards Organisation (ISO).
The MLSCN Registrar disclosed that the Council had granted accreditation symbol certificates to only 14 laboratories in the country so far and said the quality and standard should not be compromised in the medical process, especially in medical laboratory science.
Erhabor, who congratulated Lifebridge on the Award, urged the organisation to sustain the high quality and standard service delivery that earned it the award.
He said that laboratory samples were very critical in determining the direction of about 70 per cent of treatment and monitoring of patients. “70 per cent of results provided by laboratories is what is used for treatment and monitoring of patients. The era of taking laboratory samples to three laboratories before getting results is over’’, he said.
Erhabor described Lifebridege as the first privately-owned laboratory with ISO 15189 certificate in the Federal Capital Territory.
According to him, it is a demonstration of its commitment to quality and standard in service delivery.
The registrar warned that by the year 2025 laboratories with low standards and poor quality management systems would be stripped of their operational licences.
Earlier, Dr. Tawe Godwin Sale, Managing Director, Lifebridge Medical Diagnostic Centre, said the centre was set up to save both lives and money for its clients. Dr. Sale affirmed the determination of the centre to cut down on resources spent by Nigerians on medical tourism by providing quality and laboratory services.
“Shortly after commissioning, we became a one-stop centre for all diagnostic needs within the first two years of operation. Lifebridge expanded its services to include Endoscopy, Histopathology and a worldclass molecular pathology laboratory where all DNA and RNA basedtests/investigations are carried out,” he said. Dr. Sale assured of the preparedness of the centre to continue to provide quality and standard healthcare to Nigerians in partnership with the Federal Government.
The Medical Director described the ISO 15189 award of excellence as a booster for the organisation to deliver more quality service delivery.
Dr. Ike Okonkwo, Consultant Pathologist, Maitama District Hospital, lauded Lifebridge Medical Diagnostic Centre for its commitment to quality services.
Okonkwo urged them to sustain the tempo, saying that quality service delivery was not negotiable in the medical sector.
Life bridge Diagnostic Centre, Abuja, officially commissioned in July 2012, provides comprehensive medical diagnostic services from 64 CT Scan, 1.5 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imagining (MRI) of the human body mammography to breast cancer screening, endoscopy and colonoscopy e.t.c. The Centre had in January, 2022 been recognised by Afribex Magazine for the Outstanding Diagnostic Facility in
